Re: Nielsen

current Limitations on accessibility.

'Blind people' are not the only people having trouble accessing the web.

Whilst I am keen to encourage members to improve accessibility,
it is important to recognise that no site is fully accessible.
Rules have exceptions, and we have not even formalised the 'rules' that
concern cognitive disability. Let alone met their needs
To claim that a site is accessible is an exaggeration.
We are only beginning to touch on the possibilities.

jay@peepo.com

Jonathan Chetwynd
Special needs teacher / web accessibility consultant
education and outreach working group member, web accessibility initiative,
W3C
----- Original Message -----
From: Kynn Bartlett <kynn-hwg@idyllmtn.com>
To: <love26@gorge.net>
Cc: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2000 6:34 PM
Subject: Re: Nielsen


> At 10:34 AM 2/17/2000 , William Loughborough wrote:
> >Jakob Nielsen has an interesting comment: "It would not surprise me if
> >we start seeing money-back guarantee in design contracts that state that
> >clients don't have to pay for sites that violate these rules." This in
> >regard to the Priority 1 items in our Guidelines. What a nice concept!
>
> In a recent discussion on another list I'm on, someone offered the
> excuse that any inaccessible sites he'd designed were the fault of
> his cheap and short-sighted clients who refused to pay the extra
> cost necessary to make the site accessible.
>
> I countered by explaining Idyll Mountain Internet's philosophy --
> web accessibility is a natural and integral part of doing a site,
> and not an optional add-on; in fact, we'd probably charge more if
> someone DEMANDED that we make the site INaccessible.  ("No alt text
> on your images?  Well, you're the customer.  We'll charge $50 per
> image to remove alt text.")
>
> I think that if you say "and of course we'll make sure your page is
> accessible to as broad an audience as possible" a design client will
> buy that; if you say "well, for an extra cost, I can go to all the
> trouble of making sure that small percentage of people who are
> blind are able to access your site -- if you REALLY want me to,"
> then it's no surprise that the cheaper, budget-conscious folks would
> resist.
>
> We have an education problem here -- we have to change the mindset
> of web designers who view accessibility as an optional plug-in and
> not an integral part of the process.
>
> --
> Kynn Bartlett  <kynn@idyllmtn.com>                   http://www.kynn.com/
> Chief Technologist, Idyll Mountain Internet      http://www.idyllmtn.com/
> Become AWARE of Web Accessibility!                  http://aware.hwg.org/
> The Spring 2000 Virtual Dog Show is now open!     http://www.dogshow.com/
>
>

Received on Thursday, 17 February 2000 14:54:03 UTC